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“You spied for Freedo to bite us on the ass”

She opened her mouth to object, and he squeezed her waist to silence her

“This isthem both to knoas deadly serious “You heard the deal I made with her We have her for a year No questions asked We have complete control of her for a year”

He felt a shudder rush through Friday and could only ih her overactivehiainst her will Not by anyone Not ever Not if he had his way

“What happens at the end of the year, genius?” Mace wasn’t cowed by either of the she finds out once the year is up?”

“I won’t” Friday’s confident answer ht have meant a little more if she’d known exactly what her promise meant

Striker ignored her assurance It was easier than trying to ignore the heat of her body as it pressed against his Even as he focused on Mace, he was still aware of her curves beneath her ugly juainst his hardness He shook his head to clear it, aware that his increasingly intense reaction to her wasn’t in character for him Sure, he found her attractive, but the need to keep her close and protect her was growing by the minute

“Yeah,” Mace mocked her “You’ll keep our secrets There’s no way you’ll run to Freedoet”

“I won’t do that I wouldn’t” She looked up at Striker “You have to believe ether You have my word”

Mace snorted

“We don’t have tiht now,” Striker said to his second-in-command

“Will you listen to yourself?” The big guy threw up his hands in disgust “You’re risking all of us on an unknown future On a woman who is a proven security risk”

Striker held his friend’s eyes as everything within hi to think he needed her His reaction to her was visceral All of his instincts, his changed instincts, were telling him to keep her close He broke the stare-off to look down at the worasp She was pale, but stoic A wo the best of some crummy life situations

“After you take the antidote,” he said “Will your irid?”

“No” She glanced at Mace “They can be removed and analyzed, but they won’t reconnect The only way to get any information off them would be manually”